Masonry surfaces are a common sight at home or when out and about. From our lovely garden path to the floor of our garage and even the walls of buildings, there’s a lot of stonework to look after.
Painting masonry is the best way to preserve these surfaces. But after years of wear and tear, they’ll start to look less than their best again. Thankfully there are a few things you can do to take care of masonry surfaces, before and after you apply paint.
Should you Paint Masonry?
Absolutely! You want your exterior surfaces to be as resilient as possible. Even if they aren’t directly exposed to the elements, standing water, dirt, grime, moss, and general foot traffic puts a lot of wear on the surface.
It isn’t just a visual thing either. Stonework can go from just looking tired to having irreparable damage in a short amount of time. If said stonework happens to be your exterior walls, you might soon have some serious leaks to repair.
That’s an extreme example, but it does happen. The solution? You need to paint your masonry.
Reasons to Paint Masonry
By adding layers of paint and primer, you create a barrier against everything the outdoors can throw at your masonry. If you choose a quality masonry paint, standing water will struggle to battle past the protective layer, keeping your paths, floors, and bricks looking better for longer.
Our acrylic masonry paint is all you need to achieve this. Its tough compound will prevent any fading or flaking.
Some masonry treatments, especially oil-based paints, are actually too thick, and therefore do more harm than good. This is because a lot of masonry, such as concrete or brick, needs to breathe. If you ‘suffocate’ it with paint that covers the porous surface, it will start to develop issues underneath.
That’s why we made our masonry paint micro-porous, so the surface can breathe even after multiple layers. The acrylic resin we used is also UV-repellent, so it doesn’t fade in direct sunlight, and even contains a fungicide to prevent any pesky algae growth!
What Masonry can be Painted?
‘Masonry’ is an umbrella term that applies to a number of surfaces. Your garden path is masonry, but so is your driveway and the bricks lining your flowerbeds. They aren’t only outside either; a lot of homes and businesses have concrete floors for their garages and sheds. Workshops, gyms, and other commercial buildings use painted concrete too.
This means that you’re spoiled for choice if painting masonry is your goal. You can paint:
- Concrete Driveways
- Concrete Floors
- Stone Paths
- Bricks
- Pebbledash
- And more!
To get the most value for money, you want a masonry paint that can be used on as many of these as possible. Well, look no further than our acrylic masonry paint, which can be used on all of these, as well as other materials.
Even if you’re just painting at home, buying a large amount of masonry paint can be beneficial. Your immediate goal might be to paint your path, but once that’s done you might notice a stone wall that needs some TLC, and you’ll be glad you have plenty of paint left over.
But painting all masonry the same colour is dull, so it’s worth mixing it up! As it is part of our Colour System, we can produce masonry paint in any colour you can imagine. Simply enter a RAL or British Standard colour code and it’ll be on its way in no time.
How to Make Painted Masonry Last Longer
Once your masonry is painted and is looking good, you want to keep it that way. Exterior painting is all about durability; unlike your interior walls you don’t want to refresh them every few years as your preferences change.
Thankfully there are a few ways you can maximise the longevity of masonry.
The first is done before you start painting. In our painting guides we always stress how important it is to prep the surface properly before you apply your first layer. Exterior masonry is almost always coated with dust, dirt, and grime. You should remove all of this with a pressure washer before you paint, as trapping it underneath will cause lasting damage and prevent the paint from sticking.
Cleaning can also reveal a lot of damage, cracks and dents that you didn’t notice until the grime was good. A few layers of paint might make these harder to spot, but it won’t fix them. Cracks are weak points – don’t ignore them!
The Importance of Primer for Painting Masonry
By pairing your masonry paint with a layer of primer, you add extra protection to the surface. If you paint directly onto the stonework, you’ll often end up with a streaky or thin finish, even if you used specialist masonry paint.
Primer turns bare masonry into a canvas. Paint is designed to cling to it, and the painting process is much easier thanks to the smoother surface. It also enhances the colour and sheen, so your masonry will look better than new.
Adding primer can add a lot of time to a painting project, but trust us when we say it’s worth the effort.
Cleaning Masonry After Painting
Although a primed and painted surface will look good and last a while, you can still help it to look even better with the occasional clean. Some masonry gets dirtier faster than others, depending on where it is.
Path tiles, for example, suffer from standing water. These will be muddy puddles, with dirt and silt being left behind after it dries. To prevent this you can give them a quick sweep if you notice that water isn’t draining away, or see if there’s anything you can do to help with drainage.
For most masonry, a quick blast with a jetwash will make them look great again. but this is yet another reason why you should trust Paintmaster for your masonry paints. Inferior paints, even the specialist ones, won’t survive more than a couple of cleans before they flake or fade, while ours can withstand anything.
The UK’s Most Trusted Masonry Paint Supplier
We hope this blog has opened your eyes to what you can do with a few tins of masonry paint, and you’ll soon be working hard to transform your exterior stonework, or interior concrete. And now you also know what you can do to ensure it lasts for as long as possible.
If you have any questions about us or our painting products, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!